Ducati Hypermotard 796

The 796 rides the common ground between manners and madness, mixing Ducati's unrivalled twin-cylinder power and sportbike heredity with the lightweight and minimalist supermotard concept.

Just as aggressively striking as the 1100EVO, the Hypermotard 796 features a lower seat height and a smooth and flexible engine to make it the perfect urban assault vehicle. Whether it's working the daily commute or attacking the open roads, the 796 rides the common ground between manners and madness by mixing Ducati's unrivalled twin-cylinder power and sportbike heredity with the lightweight and minimalist supermotard concept.

Urban upstart

The Hypermotard's rigidly triangulated and lighter-than-ever Trellis frame and track-tested chassis geometry is still stylised by a distinct high fender at the front and dual under-seat silencers at the rear, but the 796's overall profile says it all: Go Hyper!

At 825mm (32.5in), the seat height of the 796 is a sure-footed 20mm (0.8in) lower than the 1100EVO and, when combined with the engine's smooth power delivery, this Hypermotard inspires confidence however and wherever its ridden. The upright seating position offers a commanding view of the road ahead, while the wide handlebars make the bike effortlessly flickable through the urban maze.

Extreme image, accessible character

The 796 has a dry weight of just 167kg (368lb), partly achieved by a lightweight engine, but also by continued chassis development that included fork clamps, and radial fork bottoms. An improved frame layout eliminated almost all of the forged elements used on the original Hypermotard. The lightweight is agile and easy to handle, while 17" wheels are produced in lightweight aluminium to keep the unsprung weight low and handling, braking and acceleration performances high. The 796 uses exactly the same 3.50 front and 5.50 rear rim sizes and Pirelli Diablo Rosso tyres as its 1100EVO big brother.

 Suspension duties up front are taken care of by a pair of very capable 43mm Marzocchi forks, while the rear is managed by a Sachs suspension unit featuring adjustable spring pre-load and return damping, allowing adjustments for riding style or load. The rear operates through a similar progressive link to the 1100EVO and uses the signature Hypermotard single-sided swingarm.

 Twin 305mm semi-floating discs gripped by radially mounted 4-piston Brembo callipers provide powerful and progressive front-end braking with that all-important rider-friendly 'feeling', while the rear is equipped with a 245mm disc and 2-piston calliper, also by Brembo.

The 796 Desmodue power unit promises to deliver an exhilarating ride with the same smooth tractability found in Ducati's other L-Twin engines. The 66mm stroke crankshaft uses a lightweight 848-type flywheel, to maximise power to an impressive 81hp (59.6kW) @ 8000rpm and torque to 55.7lb-ft (75.5Nm) @ 6250rpm.

To protect power delivery and maintain optimum efficiency, an oil cooler similar to the 1100EVO is used, adding even more family resemblance to its bigger brother. Breathing through an enlarged airbox intake duct and fed through 45mm throttle bodies, the 803cc swept volume is compressed to a ratio of 11:1 before being injected and ignited with Siemens controlled electronics. The 2-1-2 catalytic exhaust system uses an efficient pre-silencer configuration with twin lambda probes providing finer fuel mapping and Euro3 conformity. The system's lightweight and compact design is achieved by using 1mm thick tubing and terminates in Ducati's trademark twin under-seat, black exhaust mufflers, stylishly contrasted with great looking aluminium end caps.

An APTC 'wet' clutch gives a 'slipper' type action that prevents destabilizing of the rear-end under aggressive down-shifting and also gives the extra benefit of a super-light feel at the lever, a great benefit in stop-start city traffic or during longer journeys. The 21-plate oil-bath clutch (11 friction and 10 steel) represents a power-enhancing weight reduction over the 'dry' system as well as having a quieter operation and requiring less maintenance. The clutch and alternator outer casings of the engine are finished in an 1100-style carbon grey.

The Hypermotard 796 engine combines all recent advances in Ducati's ongoing design, manufacture and production quality campaigns to offer competitive service intervals of 7,500 miles (12,000 kilometres).

While its motard feeling is enhanced by wide, tubular handlebars and handguards, the 796's minimalist image is further characterised with integral construction Brembo master cylinders for both the clutch and brake systems. They maintain a clean handlebar arrangement for the rider and are fitted with user-friendly 4-point adjustable levers that provide easy-to-reach control for all hand sizes. Furthermore, the APTC clutch provides a super-light lever action ideal for use in the city.

The 796 comes in an urban-style Dark finish with matte black tank and beak section, black frame and black wheels or, alternatively, matte white tank with contrasting matte black beak, black frame and black wheels.

For the purists, an 1100 look-alike red tank with matching beak section, red frame and black wheels keeps the 796 in traditional livery. 

Hyper Story - When the prototype Hypermotard was first shown at the 2005 Milan show it represented the creation of a new segment, one that bridged the gap between refined sportbikes and minimalist supermotards. But some at Ducati had reservations about the initial Hypermotard concept and were unsure if people were ready for such a motorcycle.

Despite those reservations, the project continued, driven by the belief in the upright and in-control riding position of a dirtbike, but not the harsh characteristics of its single cylinder engine. These confident few designed a bike that combined the agility and lightweight precision of a supermotard with the refined power characteristics of a charismatic L-Twin sportbike.

Ducati presented the prototype Hypermotard at Milan and was rewarded with a 'Best of Show' award. The innovative Hypermotard spawned a new 'cross-over' category that had reinvented pure riding pleasure with a practical and versatile motorcycle that could be used every day.

Hyper design - Minimalism and functionality have shaped and styled the Hypermotard, and its innovative design sets it apart from the crowd. The line of its distinctive beak blending into the stylish headlamp fairing makes it instantly recognizable, while the carefully shaped tank that tapers into a skinny waistline gives a supermotard feel when aboard.

From the sturdy look of the Marzocchi front forks to the Ducati signature single-sided swingarm and underseat exhausts, the Hypermotard’s design remains unique and pure Ducati.

Hyper concept -The Hypermotard concept created an innovative segment that bridged the gap between hyper-sports bikes and supermotards. In essence, it took the high speed handling and smooth engine from a hyper-sport bike and combined it with the aggressive styling, lightweight minimalism and slow corner precision of a supermotard.

The result is an easy to handle motorcycle with unbelievable agility, incredibly sure-footed handing and a flexible engine that deals with city traffic just as easily as a spirited ride through the winding mountain roads.

796 Desmodue - The 796 engine is a completely brand new, lightweight Desmodue power unit designed to provide the torquey, smooth and enjoyable character famous of all Desmodromic L-Twins.

APTC clutch - The APTC ‘wet’ clutch gives a ‘slipper’ type action that prevents destabilizing of the rear-end under aggressive down-shifting and also gives the extra benefit of a super-light feel at the lever, a great benefit in stop-start city traffic or during longer journeys. The 21-plate oil-bath clutch (11 friction and 10 steel) represents a power-enhancing weight reduction over the ‘dry’ system as well as having a quieter operation and requiring less maintenance.

Lightweight crankcases - The new crankcases hug the gearbox internals much closer to create a smaller and more compact outer profile and achieve considerable weight savings over previous cases.

Power & torque curves - The new engine produces an impressive 81hp (59.6kW) @ 8000rpm and 55.7lb-ft (75.5Nm) of torque @ 6250rpm.

Exhaust system - The 2-1-2 catalytic exhaust system uses an efficient pre-silencer configuration with twin lambda probes providing finer fuel mapping and Euro 3 conformity. The system’s lightweight and compact design is achieved by using 1mm thick tubing and terminates in Ducati’s trademark twin under-seat, black exhaust mufflers, stylishly contrasted with great looking aluminium end caps.

Oil cooler - To protect power delivery and maintain optimum efficiency, an oil cooler similar to the 1100 is used, adding even more family resemblance to its bigger brother.

Crankshaft - The crankshaft assembly uses a lightweight 848-type flywheel and has a 66mm stroke instead of the 696’s 57.2mm.

Trellis frame - An improved frame layout eliminates almost all of the forged elements used on previous Hypermotards, replacing them with precision machined components. The lightened frame retains its torsional strength to become even more agile and easier to handle than before. Through decades of racing and development, Ducati has proven that innovative chassis engineering and evolutionary frame advancements win races. The tubular Trellis frame, used on every Ducati motorcycle, is a signature design element. This unique Ducati frame is light, rigid and beautiful thanks to its ingenious Trellis design and use of high quality ALS 450 tubing. Each tube is mitred and micro-fusion welded in a complex triangulated pattern and our incredibly strong L-Twin engine cases are functional 'stressed members' of the chassis.

Single-sided swingarm - The rear suspension of the Hypermotard uses Ducati's signature Hypermotard single-sided swingarm. The robust solution contributes considerable engineering style and, on this type of motorcycle, is a feature unique to Ducati.

Brembo brakes - Twin 305mm semi-floating discs gripped by radially mounted 4-piston Brembo callipers provide powerful and progressive front-end braking with that all-important rider-friendly ‘feeling’, while the rear is equipped with a 245mm disc and 2-piston calliper, also by Brembo.

Lightweight 5-spoke wheels - 17” 5-spoke wheels by Enkei are produced in lightweight aluminium to keep the unsprung weight low and handling, braking and acceleration performances high.

Seat height - At 825mm (32.5in), the seat height of the 796 is a sure-footed 20mm (0.8in) lower than the 1100.

Sachs rear suspension - The rear suspension is managed by a Sachs suspension unit featuring adjustable spring preload and return damping, allowing adjustments for riding style or load.

Marzocchi forks - Suspension duties up front are taken care of by very capable 43mm Marzocchi forks, which are gripped by completely redesigned top and bottom fork clamps. The fork bottoms, which also have radial mountings for the brake callipers, are redesigned with a far more compact profile.

Stopwatch - The digital display is programmed with a stopwatch function that, when enabled, can be triggered by using the high-beam flash button and each recorded time stored in a memory. After your journey or track session, the times or lap times can be recalled from the memory and scrolled through by using the instrumentation buttons on the left-hand switchgear.

DDA ready - The instrument display also doubles as a control panel for the activation of the Ducati Data Analyser (DDA) system, which is available as an accessory from Ducati Performance. The bike has been built ‘system-ready’ for the data acquisition kit, which consists of special DDA software and a memory key that slots into a plug under the seat. The same plug also doubles as the connection for a handy new battery charger available as an accessory from Ducati Performance.

Minimalist switchgear - The slim-line switch bodies house easy-to-use switches and buttons and feature a unique weapons-like 'trigger catch' that slides down to cover the starter button when the kill-switch is activated.

Innovative mirrors - The challenge of maintaining a clean, racing look around the handlebar area, motivated the design of the folding mirror concept which is based on the handguards typically found on off-road bikes. Flipped out for high visibility street mode and easily folded in for a quick change to ‘Hypermode’, the mirror handguard assemblies also integrate the LED directional indicators for an even cleaner front-end.

Compact instruments - The orange back-lit display provides an extensive amount of data including speed, revs, time, oil temperature, battery voltage, A & B trips, fuel reserve trip and scheduled maintenance, while the warning lights illuminate for neutral, turn signals, high-beam, rev-limit, oil pressure and fuel reserve. In addition, it can list recorded lap times by using the high-beam flash button as a stopwatch.

Lighting - The headlamp uses a highly compact lighting shape which blends with the single piece nose fairing and front fender moulding, while the rear light employs a specially designed strip of LEDs enhanced by a high diffusion lens shaped into the sleek lines of the tailpiece. The same LEDs are intensified under braking. The front directional indicators also employ the latest in LED technology for illumination, and are ingeniously integrated into the handguards which support the foldable rear view mirrors. The high intensity LED rear light assembly is moulded into a unique tailpiece positioned high behind the seat.

The 2012 Hypermotard family continues to shape the sector it created, innovatively bridging the gap between refined sportbikes and minimalist supermotards with the accessible Hypermotard 796, the exciting Hypermotard 1100EVO and the extreme, track-ready and stylish new entry of the Hypermotard 1100EVO SP Corse Edition.

The Hypermotard prototype was an instant success when first shown and soon became a top seller when its production started in 2007. Since then, its unique design has excited riders around the world and praise for this thrilling and versatile bike has never stopped – and neither has its evolution. Today, the range remains as Hyper as ever from the user-friendly 796 to the new 1100EVO SP Corse Edition.

Both the 796 and 1100EVO are offered in Ducati red with matching beak section, red frame and black wheels, while the 796 extends the options further with matte black or matte white with matte black beak, black frame and black wheels. The Hypermotard 1100EVO SP Corse Edition is proudly dressed in the full Ducati Corse official colours, appropriate with its track-ready character.

HYPERMOTARD FAMILY FEATURES
Lightweight Trellis frame
 The quick and precise handling that the Hypermotard provides is down to the construction and geometry of its famous Trellis frame. Its ability to handle the abundant torque from the L-Twin engine and its rigidity under powerful Brembo braking are just a few reasons why Ducati's chassis department would never want to change it.

The engine department went back to the drawing board for the 796 and started with a clean sheet of paper.

Their complete redesign of the crankcases rewarded them with an incredible weight saving and the 796 crankshaft, with 848-style flywheel, reduced weight even further to become a very credible package.

The 1100 air-cooled Desmodue Evoluzione engine truly was an 'evolution' – both in power and weight – and is responsible for the model name extension 1100 EVO. Engineers used the same Vacural® technology employed for the lightweight Superbike engines when they vacuum die-cast the Hypermotard 1100 crankcases, a process that achieves a significant weight saving and ensures consistent wall thickness and increased strength. This process and a lightweight crankshaft assembly reduced the 1100’s engine weight by a staggering amount and combined with a boost to 95hp delivers impressive results.

Compact and efficient, the Desmodue engine's hyper-lightweight and narrow L-Twin layout, no wider than a single cylinder, ensures that all Hypermotards remain lean and agile. The air-cooled design eliminates the need for water radiators, hoses, reservoirs and pumps, keeping the motorcycle's weight down to a minimum and its lines clean and race-like.

Desmo

The incredible valve performances of the Desmodue engine are only possible because of Ducati's unique Desmodromic system, where valve closure is activated mechanically. At high rpm it would be almost impossible for the valve to follow the steep closure profile of the cam lobe if it were relying upon a normal valve spring. With the Desmo system, the valve is closed mechanically with the same accuracy as it is opened, enabling steep cam profiles and radical cam timings. This system is used on every single Ducati power unit including their world-beating Superbike and Desmosedici MotoGP engines.

Ducati pushed motorcycle design limits to find an innovative solution for the original Hypermotard mirrors and these are used throughout the family. The challenge of maintaining a clean, racing look around the handlebar area motivated the design of the folding mirror concept which is based on the handguards typically found on off-road bikes. Flipped out for high visibility street mode and easily folded in for a quick change to 'Hypermode', the mirror handguard assemblies also integrate the LED directional indicators for an even cleaner front-end.
 

Controls and instrumentation
The slim-line switch bodies house easy-to-use switches and buttons, and feature a unique weapons-like 'trigger catch' that slides down to cover the starter button when the kill-switch is activated. Their minimalist design fits perfectly in the clean and essential lines of the Hypermotard's sporting image.

Looking clean and purposeful, the display provides an extensive amount of data including speed, revs, time, oil temperature, battery voltage, A & B trips, fuel reserve trip and scheduled maintenance, while the warning lights illuminate for neutral, turn signals, high-beam, rev-limit, oil pressure and fuel reserve. In addition, it can list recorded lap times by using the high-beam flash button as a stopwatch. Both the 1100EVO and 1100EVO SP Corse Edition use a white back-lighting while the 796 uses an orange back-lighting.

The instrument display also doubles as a control panel for the activation of the Ducati Data Analyser (DDA) system, which is available as an accessory from Ducati Performance for the 'system-ready' Hypermotard 796 and 1100EVO and supplied as standard equipment on the 1100EVO SP Corse Edition. The DDA-intended USB connection port under all of the Hypermotard seats doubles as a charging point for a handy battery charger, which is available as an accessory from Ducati Performance.
 

Lighting and indicators
 The headlamp uses a highly compact lighting shape which blends with the single piece nose fairing and front fender moulding, while the rear light employs a specially designed strip of LEDs enhanced by a high diffusion lens shaped into the sleek lines of the tailpiece. The same LEDs are intensified under braking. The front directional indicators also employ the latest in LED technology for illumination, and are ingeniously integrated into the handguards which support the foldable rear view mirrors.

Tailpiece
The high intensity LED rear light assembly is moulded into a unique tailpiece positioned high behind the seat. The supporting structure has been designed so that the under tray of the tailpiece is formed perfectly to offer a sturdy pair of pillion grab-handles. This ingenious solution not only helps to merge the rear light into the Hypermotard styling but also provides a safe grip for the passenger.

Rider footpegs on all of the Hypermotard models have removable rubber inserts to expose the serrated metal edge and increase boot grip on the peg during extreme riding. The 1100EVO and 1100EVO SP Corse Edition provide a further minimalist and no-compromise feature by having removable passenger footpegs.

This attention to detail enables a clean 'monoposto' look when on the track, while allowing a fast and easy change to 'biposto' for the street.